Kathryn Finnerty is a studio potter living and working in Pleasant Hill, Oregon. Her pottery is ornately decorated with surface patterns and images that draw on her love of the historical traditions of European decorative ceramics. Each piece is hand-built from slabs of terracotta clay and formed into a variety of domestic forms such as jars, teapots, and vessels for flowers.
In the summer of 2000 Kathryn and her husband, Tom Rohr, also a potter, moved to Oregon to build Pleasant Hill Pottery and focus on the practice of making pots.
Currently Kathryn’s work is exhibited in numerous galleries across the US and Canada and her work has also been published in a number of books and magazines.
I am drawn to 19th century English pottery and use it as an inspiration for my work. I specifically enjoy the playful, ornamental aspects of Victorian Majolica and the decorative sprigged surfaces of salt-fired stoneware and porcelain wares. I find the classically inspired designs partnered with shapes derived from natural forms, and enriched with jewel toned glazes oddly charming, humorous, and unpretentious. |
